Faces in the Crowd

Table of Contents

July 28, 2014

THE SAINTS' SUPER BOWL HOPES, WHICH ARE OH-SO-VERY-REAL, ARE HITCHED TO THEIR 35-YEAR-OLD QUARTERBACK, WHO GAVE SI AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT HIS OFF-SEASON TRAINING REGIMEN. THE LESSON: DREW BREES IS NOT LIKE YOU AND ME, BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO BE AN ALL-PRO TO REAP THE BENEFITS OF FUNCTIONAL FITNESS

One of the plum jobs in the nation now belongs to a 53-year-old who spent a decade getting passed over by lesser schools. Was it his race? His inexperience? After his great run at Louisville, he arrives at Texas with a bigger question lingering. Who is Charlie Strong?

She had never been skydiving. He was a veteran of hundreds of jumps. Five years ago this week they leaped out of a plane together 13,500 feet above terra firma. &amp;gt;Then something went desperately wrong

Faces in the Crowd

Isaiah, 6' 3", a senior guard at Roselle Catholic this fall, had 12 boards and scored 20 points, including two free throws with 3.8 seconds left, to lead Playaz Basketball Club over Team Penny for the Nike Peach Jam title. In June, he scored 14 in Team USA's 113--79 defeat of Canada for the 18-and-under world title. He averaged 22.1 points and 4.0 assists for Roselle last season.

Ena Shibahara | Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. | Tennis

Ena, a rising junior at Peninsula High, beat Kayla Day of Santa Barbara 1--6, 7--5, 6--2 to win the USTA SoCal Junior Sectionals 18-and-under championship. The Cal-Hi Sports player of the year, Ena won the CIF Southern Section singles title while leading the 27--0 Panthers to the CIF Southern Regional D-I crown. She is No. 5 nationally in her age group.

Jonathan Wells | Fox Lake, Ill. | Track and Field

Wells, a recent graduate of Grant High, won the high jump at USATF junior nationals with a leap of 6' 10¾". In May he jumped 7 feet even to defend his Class 3A state championship while also winning the long jump (23'¾"). Wells, who had the top national high school indoor jump of the year at 7' 2", will attend Illinois.

Sara Nevins | Pinellas Park, Fla. | Softball

Nevins, a recent Southern Florida grad, pitched Team USA to gold in the World Cup of Softball final in Irvine, Calif., allowing two hits while striking out eight in 61/3 innings to beat Canada 5--2. She gave up one run and fanned 20 in 131/3 tournament innings. Last season Nevins led the American Athletic Conference in wins (29), ERA (1.35) and K's (299).

Billy Fleming | Churchville, Pa. | Baseball

Fleming, a rising senior second baseman at West Virginia, had nine hits over four straight Cape Cod League wins for the Bourne Braves, including an RBI double to help beat Hyannis 9--3 and two RBIs in a 7--4 victory over Chatham. Second in the league with a .361 average at week's end, Fleming batted .351 as a junior, No. 2 in the Big 12.

Elizabeth Sharis | Bettendorf, Iowa | Rowing

Elizabeth, a rising senior sculler at Pleasant Valley High, won the singles race in 8:24.19 at youth nationals in Rancho Cordova, Calif.; she also rowed on the champion Y Quad Cities quadruple squad (7:19.37). A member of the silver-medal-winning U.S. quads at the 2012 and '13 world juniors, she made this year's junior national team as a single sculler.

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